UMD Critical Issues Poll: Country of Origin, Race, Politics Influence…

Attitudes about gun violence and firearm insurance policies are influenced by race greater than age, and opinions range extensively based mostly on whether or not respondents have been born within the U.S. and their political affiliation, in response to a latest College of Maryland Vital Points Ballot performed with Ipsos.

Among the many key findings of the ballot, directed by Division of Authorities and Politics Professors Shibley Telhami and Stella Rouse, these born outdoors the U.S. have been extra prone to assist better gun restrictions in comparison with these born within the U.S. Of these foreign-born respondents, solely 14% believed that tighter faculty safety was most certainly to scale back gun violence in opposition to kids, whereas 33% mentioned fewer weapons would achieve this, and 42% mentioned each equally.

As compared, a 3rd of these born within the U.S. mentioned that gun violence in opposition to kids could be diminished by tighter safety, 19% mentioned by fewer weapons and 28% by each equally.

Whereas 64% of foreign-born respondents mentioned stricter gun management would result in fewer mass shootings, 49% of U.S.-born respondents mentioned the identical. In the meantime, 44% of these born within the U.S. mentioned tighter restrictions would don’t have any impact; simply 27% of these born elsewhere agreed.

“It’s properly established that the U.S. leads developed nations by a large margin in each the variety of weapons and the variety of gun homicides, two correlated measures,” mentioned Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Improvement. “This can be one motive why U.S.-born and foreign-born People specific totally different attitudes on weapons and gun violence.”

The ballot of 1,203 adults nationwide was performed March 27-April 5 and had a margin of error of three.2%.

As in earlier
Vital Points Polls, Black People have been extra prone to think about gun coverage “crucial” in comparison with different races and ethnicities. Within the newest outcomes, they have been extra prone to say that if extra People owned weapons, there could be extra crime (41%) or that it will make no distinction (46%) than white People (28% and 40%, respectively). Hispanic People have been within the center (38% and 29%, respectively).

As compared, People of various age teams diversified much less of their views. Thirty-seven p.c of these beneath 30 years outdated mentioned that if People owned extra weapons there could be extra crime, and 38% mentioned it will make no distinction, in comparison with 33% and 39%, respectively, of People 30 years of age and older.

People with larger training have been extra prone to say that extra weapons would result in extra crime: 27% of highschool graduates and a few school mentioned extra weapons would result in extra crime, in comparison with 40% of these with a bachelor’s diploma and 48% of these with a grasp’s diploma or larger.

The survey additionally discovered that the partisan hole on attitudes concerning the impression of weapons on crime has widened since 2021. When requested whether or not stricter necessities to legally acquire a gun would trigger fewer mass capturing or extra, solely 34% of Republicans mentioned it will cut back the quantity in comparison with 80% of Democrats. Most Republicans (58%) mentioned it will make no distinction within the variety of mass shootings, in comparison with solely 16% of Democrats. As well as, whereas 55% of Republicans mentioned that tighter faculty safety was extra prone to cut back gun violence in opposition to kids, solely 8% of Democrats felt the identical, with 43% saying fewer weapons locally could be more practical.

Concerning the impression of entry to weapons on crime charges, most Democrats mentioned that extra weapons would enhance U.S. crime, whereas 49% of Republicans mentioned it will trigger much less crime. On the similar time, solely 1 / 4 of Democrats mentioned extra weapons would don’t have any impression on crime charges in comparison with 42% of Republicans who mentioned the identical.

Notably, the share of Republicans who say that extra weapons would lower crime has declined in recent times. A Pew Analysis Heart Ballot in 2021, fielding the identical query because the UMD ballot, discovered that 56% of Republicans mentioned that extra weapons would result in much less crime. The newest UMD ballot confirmed that share dropping to 49%. As compared, the share of Democrats saying that extra weapons would result in extra crime has grown from 55% in 2021 to 68% in 2023.

An in-depth evaluation of the ballot outcomes can be a part of a full report launched later this month.

This report was based mostly on an evaluation from Shibley Telhami, with help from Kirsten Langlois.